Sailing Ships in Tasmania
The port of Hobart was settled in
1803 by Lieutenant John Bowen who arrived with the sailing ships Albion and
Lady Nelson.
Many famous sailing ships have plied these waters, including Captain James Cook's
Endeavour
and Captain William Bligh's Bounty, of
Mutiny on the Bounty
film fame. The mutiny occurred in 1789, just one year after Sydney was settled.
Sailing ships from England anchored for fresh water at Adventure Bay in Southern Tasmania, because Bass Strait was not discovered until 1798/99, when George Bass and Matthew Flinders circumnavigated Tasmania in their sloop Norfolk. 200 years later, a magnificent replica of the Norfolkwas built in Hobart and sailed to Sydney and back to re-enact the voyage to the day.
Hobart hosted a US Navy sailing ship last century, and now hosts many US battleships and aircraft carriers. On Australia Day, 26 January 1988, to celebrate the first 200 years of white settlement in Australia, over 200 Tall Ships commenced a race from Hobart to Sydney.
Bounty
Sailing Ship Races Between Sydney and Hobart
Tall Ships docked in Hobart in January 1988 preparing for the Australia Day race from Hobart to Sydney. Another Tall Ship race was started on 26 January 1998, this time from Sydney to Hobart and every year there is a Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race held for modern yachts starting on Boxing Day.
Russian Training Sail Ship Pallada in Hobart in January 1988 (left) and in full sail at sea (right).
1998 Tallship Race The Tall Ship Society More Ships Fast Ferries Incat Australia